I wasn't planning on revealing my Top 10 until my year-end awards were posted later this month, but many have been asking for it. I guess you guys want to include some of these novels on your Christmas shopping list!;-) Hence, I've decided to post the Top 10 now, with links to each review, and I'll include the 10 runner-up titles when I post the awards. So without further ado, here it is:

Also, something which I've been thinking about is that Dreamsongs was originally published a couple years back in a single volume edition by Subterranean Press as GRRM: A RRetrospective and I've been unsure whether or not if I wanted to count it as a true 2007 release. Haven't made up my mind yet on that.

Anonymous: Needless to say, it would have been impossible for me to come up with a list that didn't include Black Man/Thirteen and Brasyl!

kp: The Name of the Wind is one of the runner-up titles which will make their appearance in my year-end awards.

Larry: Funny how reading tastes evolve over the course of time. Way back when the Hotlist didn't exist, you and Rob were my main online sources for SFF materials. Though Rob and I still have more or less the same taste in books, you sort of drifted toward the more literary, the more elitist SFF clique. Man, where did you go wrong!?!:p

No but seriously, just like VanderMeer and MJH, you cannot expect the bulk of your picks to appeal to the masses... Nothing wrong with that, but that's the way love goes!

stormy70: Hopefully you were not too naughty this year, and Santa will bring you a lot of Malazan presents!:-)

Gabriele: What??? You couldn't find it in you to sift through the 1000-plus posts until you found the Brasyl book review!?! Slacker...:p

jak: You should be in charge of posting stuff around here!;-)

Joe and Ed: No Bear on my list yet.

And since Dreamsongs was only available as a limited edition on this side of the pond until this year, I elected to count it as a 2007 release...

It's more like I'm returning to my first loves, Pat. I was quite the radical in some ways when I was in grad school and I think now that I'm hitting my mid 30s, I want a reversion of sorts, back towards the things that challenge me.

Thing you have to remember about personal lists is that it has to be a reflection of where you stand at a particular time. I want something that captures a sort of a punk ethos more than ever, so naturally my choices are going to diverge from some of the others in the circles many frequent. Doesn't make it any more "right" or "wrong" - just a reflection of where one stands.

Besides, I bet you can't guess my #1 for the year even after the hints. RAFO time, right? :P

For those of you that didn't like Brasyl, I agree completely. If you like a story to move, then this is not the book for you. If you like a writer that takes several paragraphs of florid prose to describe what could be otherwise described with one sentence, then this book is for you.

I happen to like a bit of "florid prose". If something is said economically, in one sentence, when it could have been described beautifully and added depth to the character or scene, I consider it worthwhile.

Otherwise, something said in "one sentence" is usually written for the lowest common denominator.

Consider me the lowest common denominator then. Although, a good writer should be able to evoke the mood and character without overindulgence. A few bites of a good dessert is a wonderful thing, several helpings is just gluttony.

I suppose I post this a bit late. An excellant list with some fine reads. I spent an awkward month awake at night listening to the terror. I think a more apt title would of been abandon all hope. No floral prose, just a very stark style, which suited the landscape perfectly. Still I was very happy when it ended. I'm still not sure whether this was because the book was crap, or that the artic cold sucked the life out of me. I Just finished Before they are hanged and really enjoyed it! I think I will get a Hobb book next.